Page 35 of Her Infuriating Duke

Amber chewed her lip, eyes on the ground.

“You told me last night you wanted to handle the planning. Why don’t you tell me what you’ve got.”

She chewed her lip. “Well, I- I mean, I’m still working on it. These things take time. You can’t just expect me to have it all figured out!”

“And how long will it take for you to figure it out?”

“I don’t know yet!”

She shrugged, looking away.

Christopher let out a long sigh. “And how long do we have to make this work?”

“I want this handled before we leave the party. We don’t typically run in the same circles, and who knows if we will ever see each other again.”

He chuckled. “Somehow I doubt Felicity is going to let you go so easily.”

Amber opened her mouth to protest, but Christopher cut her off.

“Still, I can understand why you wouldn’t want to risk that.” He nodded. “So, we have a clear deadline. That’s good.”

She hummed in agreement, still struggling to figure out the how.

“Then do you want my help figuring out what to do?”

“No! I am more than capable of taking care of it on my own!”

He snorted. “If that’s true, then why do you need me?”

She crossed her arms. “You know why.”

“Pretend I don’t. Spell it out for me.”

“I can come up with a plan. I just need time, but I can’t ruin myself alone. Someone has to go down with me.”

“Careful,” he smirked down at her. “When you say it like that, it sounds like you want it to hurt me too.”

Her eyes flashed. “Don’t be ridiculous. I already told you-—”

“That you would save me at the last minute. You don’t need to worry. I remember.”

“Then do you still not trust me to keep my word?”

“If I didn’t, do you think I would be here?”

“Then why did you say that?”

“Who can say?” he shrugged. “Perhaps I just like watching you squirm.”

She flushed, stuttering out a response. “That’s- you- you can’t just say things like that; we need to focus. We don’t have long to make this work.”

“Then maybe you should let me help.”

She sighed. “Fine, what would you suggest?”

“Glad to see you have finally seen reason.”

“Just tell me your suggestion before I change my mind.”

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